World Animal Day or "World Day for Animals" is celebrated each year on October 4th.

What is this Holiday for?

On this day, animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned on locations all over the globe. Numerous churches throughout the world observe the Sunday closest to October 4 with a Blessing for the Animals.

Animal blessings are held in churches, synagogues, and by independent Animal Chaplains in parks and fields. Animal rescue shelters hold fundraising events and open days, wildlife groups organize information displays, schools undertake animal-related project work and individuals and groups of friends or co-workers donate to animal charities or pledge to sponsor a shelter animal.

This holiday is a International Observance so everyone all over the world will celebrate this holiday. World Animal Day has now gone beyond being the celebration of a Christian saint and is today observed by animal-lovers of all beliefs, nationalities and backgrounds.

In Argentina it is celebrated on April 29 as a tribute to the death (in 1926) of Dr. Lucas Ignacio Albarracín. Albarracín was, along with Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, one of the founders of the Sociedad Argentina Protectora de Animales (Argentine Society of Protection of Animals) and the propeller of the National Law on Protection of Animals (No. 2786).[3

October 4 was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environment.

Animal rights, is the idea that the most basic interests of animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of humans. Advocates approach the issue from different positions but agree that animals should be viewed as legal persons and members of the moral community, not property, and that they should not be used as food, clothing, research subjects, or entertainment."